By Eunice Akullo
Agriculturalists are concerned about the reducing production levels of organic food in the country.
The reduction is blamed on a cocktail of issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and a growing demand for food, fibre, feed and energy required for the growing population.
Speaking during a technical working group workshop at Fairway Hotel on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, agriculture ministry commissioner in charge of crop production Alex Lwakuba, said production volumes are reducing, something he said, affects people’s wellbeing.
Lwakuba noted that farmers have adopted the use of non-organic fertilisers, a move he said is drastically affecting crop yields.
“We have the concern of reduced volumes of productivity. For example, we used to get over 20 bags of maize from one acre of land but if you grow maize now without a fertiliser, you will not get anything at all,” Lwakuba said.
He added that people should embrace an agroecological strategy, noting that the new approach has the potential to improve on farm productivity and generate income for the farmers.
According to Chariton Namuwoza, the chief executive officer of the National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU), farmers are still locked up in agroecology yet productivity is not rewarding.
“We are positioning agroecology and organic agriculture as a sure route for farmers in this country to escape the trap of poverty because it is a sure avenue for traders, processors and exporters to make money, and yet this comes at a much lower cost,” Namuwoza said.
Namuwoza added that there are strongholds in different parts of the country, especially in the central region practising agroecology, hence giving hope for improvements.
He appealed to the Government to support agroecology by approving the national agroecology strategy and organic agriculture.
“I also appeal to the consumers to demand for safe healthy nutritious organic and agroecological products because there are many diseases that we are getting out of eating unsafe food daily and sometimes we don’t know,” he said.
